new Vapor Fire 100 with very poor heat

[brenndatomu]

I meant to post this the other night and forgot...might help some new Kuuma owners figure out how much to load and not have too many coals left when you need to load before going to work in the morning...or running out of wood halfway through the night...and waking up to BRR! I have seen this several times over the years, but my google-fu brought up this article tonight when I searched for this data (just to be sure I had the numbers right)

FARM SHOW Magazine - The BEST stories about Made-It-Myself Shop Inventions, Farming and Gardening Tips, Time-saving Tricks & the Best Farm Shop Hacks, DIY Farm Projects, Tips on Boosting your farm income, time-saving farming advice, farming tractors

No wood burner on the market burns cleaner than the Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100, in-house furnace, according to the manufacturer. The hot air furnace recently tested out at 86 percent heat trans...

www.farmshow.com

Computer on low, is supposed to burn 3-4 lbs per hour.
Computer on med, is supposed to burn 5-7 lbs per hour.
Computer on high, is supposed to burn 8-9 lbs per hour.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I know there was a time a month ago, here at least, where I was surprised at how hard I was already working the Kuuma to keep up.

I guess that's not too surprising to me. IIRC, you are also heating your DHW with it by way of a HX type coil in the plenum and live in a pretty cold climate. Granted, you keep it way colder in your place than most of us do, so it's hard to compare, but back when you were asking about whether that HX DHW coil would work I was thinking it was going to steal quite a bit of BTU's in a climate where you may need them to heat the house.

 

[woodey]

Does anybody find the thermostat controlled high blower setting to be useful?

Yes I find it to be useful at times. I have 16 warm air registers in a old large house I am heating. Although I seldom have all of them open I find that when the temps get below 10 it does make a difference having the high side of the blower kick in at times.

 

[gary38532]

I always run the blower on high right now at least. I just dont seem to get enough air moment on low.

 

[gary38532]

I meant to post this the other night and forgot...might help some new Kuuma owners figure out how much to load and not have too many coals left when you need to load before going to work in the morning...or running out of wood halfway through the night...and waking up to BRR! I have seen this several times over the years, but my google-fu brought up this article tonight when I searched for this data (just to be sure I had the numbers right)

FARM SHOW Magazine - The BEST stories about Made-It-Myself Shop Inventions, Farming and Gardening Tips, Time-saving Tricks & the Best Farm Shop Hacks, DIY Farm Projects, Tips on Boosting your farm income, time-saving farming advice, farming tractors

No wood burner on the market burns cleaner than the Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100, in-house furnace, according to the manufacturer. The hot air furnace recently tested out at 86 percent heat trans...

www.farmshow.com

Computer on low, is supposed to burn 3-4 lbs per hour.
Computer on med, is supposed to burn 5-7 lbs per hour.
Computer on high, is supposed to burn 8-9 lbs per hour.

Do you weigh your wood before adding it? I've been just guessing with mediocre success....

 

[gary38532]

If I woke up to find that it was 75 in my bedroom, I'd probably be 2/3 of the way through 9-1-1 before I came to my senses !
That doesn't even happen here in the summer!

Its fine for us we always liked it warm even in the summer haha

 

[gary38532]

Good to see things are going your way - you're certainly earning it!

better and better. It's 32 outside right now 72 in the house on coals. I think before when it was 62 inside I had lots of operator error. In my defense though this new stove is nothing like what I'm use to. I think as I learn what it needs to run my house. It will be all good.

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

I guess that's not too surprising to me. IIRC, you are also heating your DHW with it by way of a HX type coil in the plenum and live in a pretty cold climate. Granted, you keep it way colder in your place than most of us do, so it's hard to compare, but back when you were asking about whether that HX DHW coil would work I was thinking it was going to steal quite a bit of BTU's in a climate where you may need them to heat the house.

Sadly, I think the biggest issue is the marginal heat retention properties of my house. That's the most work to fix. It's not terrible, but it's a big place with a tough climate. My wife wouldn't see it this way, but a one room cabin with a nice simple roof where the snow removes itself, and a nice little stove in the middle, is not all wrong!

I'm not seeing problematic amounts of stealing from the DHW setup so far. If you're thoughtful about usage, two adults really won't use that many BTUs of hot water. Now, a house full of teenagers would be a different matter altogether! That's where you need a DHW system designed TO go cold!

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

Its fine for us we always liked it warm even in the summer haha

Lots of people agree with you, and yet strangely, Phoenix is still rather uncrowded???

 

[gary38532]

Lots of people agree with you, and yet strangely, Phoenix is still rather uncrowded???

It's probably because it's beautiful here in the winter...

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

It's probably because it's beautiful here in the winter...

Can't disagree with that! Guessing peaceful too!

 

[sloeffle]

Our of curiosity, how many square feet are you heating @gary38532 ?

 

[brenndatomu]

Do you weigh your wood before adding it? I've been just guessing with mediocre success....

Yeah, I started out just doing it sometimes, after reading @JRHAWK9 ramblings about it, but then this year I decided to do every load...curious what I burn in a year, exactly.
It does help you load more accurately for the weather conditions...I find I'm often off when I guesstimate weight...and going buy volume is a complete crap-shoot, depending on what species you are burning.

 

[gary38532]

Our of curiosity, how many square feet are you heating @gary38532 ?

2800

 

[gary38532]

I haven't really messed around with the new camera much yet but I took this just now. It looks like that roof isn't as bad as I thought maybe? The red on top is the ridge cap and the other red section is where the garage meets the living room. I would love to hear what everyone thinks! Thank you

 

[JRHAWK9]

I haven't really messed around with the new camera much yet but I took this just now. It looks like that roof isn't as bad as I thought maybe? The red on top is the ridge cap and the other red section is where the garage meets the living room. I would love to hear what everyone thinks! Thank you

I dunno, it doesn't look good, IMO. Have you messed around anymore with it?

What model Seek camera do you have?

 

[gary38532]

I talked with Dale from Lamppa today about it. He said the VF100 max output is about 125k BTU. My old Clayton according to the web was 160k so maybe that's why I'm having so much problems. I have a company coming Tuesday to audit the house. I might just add a wood stove upstairs that should double my BTU's and put me higher then where I was with the old Clayton. I need to do something fast though it was only 64 in the house this morning and it was 20 outside so when it gets to 0 I'm going to be in real trouble.
I did look around the house more and found lots of leaks around outlets and doors which I all ready fixed. The windows around the whole house seem to look the same as the one I posted. Leaks in the attic too that I'm planing to address tomorrow. That should be easy I plan to just add insulation to all the cold spots. I'm thinking my best bet is just to get another stove. By the time I pay for all the added insulation I don't think I will be really be ahead money wise. With the VF100 mixing the air and the second burner upstairs making more heat I'm hoping everything will be warm.
Amazon product ASIN B07RQ3J27YThat is the link to the Seek I got.
I know I'm rambling here but I also noticed that I only really get a two degree gain in the house regardless of computer setting high or med.
High does the same in the house as Med is my point. I'm not really sure what to make of that. I can tell the stove is alot hotter on high just by standing by it.

 

[brenndatomu]

I might just add a wood stove upstairs

That's the setup I have...it works really well! Although since installing the VF100, I have not had to run the stove for "extra heat" reasons...more just for ambiance, or just plain ole watching fire TV...I really miss the window in the door of my old Tundra furnace. But when I had the Tundra, and the weather got particularly nasty cold, firing up the stove (Drolet 1400i insert stove) along with the furnace meant neither one had to run any harder than normal, and the house was the same temp (or warmer) as with more average weather.

Leaks in the attic too that I'm planing to address tomorrow. That should be easy I plan to just add insulation to all the cold spots.

Keep in mind that air sealing means as much, sometimes more, than just insulation.

By the time I pay for all the added insulation I don't think I will be really be ahead money wise

Again, keep in mind, insulation/air sealing pays you back 27/7/365...no better heating/cooling investment can be made.

 

[gary38532]

Again, keep in mind, insulation pays you back 27/7/365...no better heating/cooling investment can be made.

Very True but for what I got in mind we are talking big bucks. I'll just have to wait and see what they say. Meanwhile I'm paying for electric heat In the rooms we are sleeping in.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I talked with Dale from Lamppa today about it. He said the VF100 max output is about 125k BTU.

I think Daryl would disagree. They are actually advertised as being a lot less than that.....<50,000BTU's/HR. The rating you mentioned seems to be a lot like the super exaggerated ones found by other manufacturers prior to them doing the certification tests. They then magically dropped like a rock.

 

[brenndatomu]

Maybe he meant that it would do the same job as a typical 125K BTU fossil fuel furnace?

 

[gary38532]

I think Daryl would disagree. They are actually advertised as being a lot less than that.....<50,000BTU's/HR. The rating you mentioned seems to be a lot like the super exaggerated ones found by other manufacturers prior to them doing the certification tests. They then magically dropped like a rock.

No, I think hes spot on. Mine has special modes made to it to get more out that they told me to do.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Maybe he meant that it would do the same job as a typical 125K BTU fossil fuel furnace?

OK, true, I guess that could be.

 

[gary38532]

OK, true, I guess that could be.

no

 

[gary38532]

that's not what he said but if that is the case that means Im way under